Issue - decisions

The committee received a report from the Customer Service Business Manager regarding the Annual Complaints Report for 2012/13.

In response to a question from the Chair the Customer Service Business Manager confirmed that the increase in the number of complaints was partly due to the recent introduction of a central complaints repository which meant that issues were being reported more consistently. The Council had also provided specific training for officers in identifying and dealing with complaints.

To put the figures into context, the Chief Executive confirmed that the City Council provided services to over 50,000 households and had received a total of 498 complaints. It was also noted that, as the Council experienced different challenges from year to year (such as the re-routing on refuse vehicles and the changes to the benefit system) it was difficult to compare short term trends.

Councillor Herbert emphasised the need for the Council to learn and improve as a result of complaints, and requested further information on the cases investigated and up-held by the Independent Complaints Investigator.

The Chief Executive agreed that further details would be added to the Annual Complaints Report prior to it being published on the Council’s website.

In response to a question from Councillor Johnson regarding complaint response times (table 3 of the Officer’s report) the Chief Executive confirmed that response times varied dependent on the complexity of complaints received by each department. For example a missed recycling bin could be dealt with much quicker than a complex planning issue.

Resolved (by 3 votes to 0) to:

       i.          Approve publication of the draft Annual Complaints Report for 2012-13 to the Council’s website.